Mr. S

Mr. S focuses on a historically famous and important scientific Italian figure, the connection that the theories, inventions, and the discoveries made by each person has with Canada, and how Mr. S can spark the imagination and curiosity of young Canadian students when considering these Italian scientists and explorers.

Mr. S: Guglielmo Marconi – Il Mito di Signal Hill
Guglielmo Marconi is best known for his contribution to wireless communication. He was the first scientist to send a signal wirelessly from England to Canada. His wireless telegraph was famously used to aid in the rescue of many people during the sinking of the Titanic. Mr. S sparks the imagination and curiosity of his students by having them construct a basic apparatus that uses the spark from a gas lighter to turn on an electrical circuit wirelessly. His students also build a functioning radio.

Mr. S: La Scoperta di Giovanni Caboto
Giovanni Caboto was an Italian explorer who is credited with being the first European, after the Vikings, to set foot on what is today Canadian soil. Mr. S guides his students through the science of navigation and the exploration of wind power by using a wind current to suspend a ping pong ball in midair and demonstrating how air pressure can be manipulated to create a desired airflow.

Mr. S: La Scienza di Alessandro Volta
Alessandro Volta invented the battery, a device that stores chemical energy and releases it when needed in the form of electrical energy. Batteries are used in countless applications from automobile power packs to children’s toys, computers, smart phones… the list goes on and on. Italian Canadian scientists have developed and perfected technologies to improve on the power output and efficiency of electrical batteries. Mr. S and his students explore Volta’s discoveries by building a rudimentary battery with Canadian pennies and other everyday materials, and an electrical circuit powered by potatoes.

Mr. S: la Scienza del Volo
Leonardo da Vinci is credited with countless inventions and discoveries. He devoted his life to the study and possibility of human flight. Although he was not successful in that endeavor, he has left us with several drawings and models of airplanes, helicopters, and other flying devices. In Canada, Italian Canadian scientists and technologists involved in the Avro Arrow program, designed, constructed, and tested a fighter jet prototype with never seen before capabilities. Mr. S gets his students interested in the science of flight by having a paper airplane flying contest and constructing with them a model helicopter that mimics one that exists in nature.